Paper-feeding machine



No. 623,769. Patented Apr. 25, I899. T. 0. DEXTER. PAPER FEEDING MACHINE. (Application filed Dec. 28, 1896.) (No Model.) 17 Sheets-Sheet I.

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no. 623,769. Pacented Apr. 25, I899. T. c. DEXTER.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

- (Application filed Dec. 28, 1896.) (No Model.) l7 Sheets-Sheet 2.

@ lid 43 WITNESSES: INVENTOR ATTORNEYS u, mom. ON D c No. 623,769. Patented Apr. 25, I899.

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PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

(Application filed Dec. 28 1898.) (No Model.) l7 Sheets-Sheet 3.

WITNESSES No; 623,769. Patented Apr. 25, I899. T. G. DEXTER. PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

(Applicatiozi filed 1m. as, 1990.

(No Model.)

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P'APEB 'FEEMNG MACHINE.

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WITNESSES ATTORNEYS No. 623,769. Patented Apr. 25, I899.

T. C. DEXTER.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

(Application filed Dec. 28, 1896.) (No Model.) I7 Sheets-Sheet 7.

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WITNESSES:

No. 623,769. Patented Apr. 25, I899. T. C. DEXTER.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

(No Model.) (Applicatwn filed Dec 28 1896) I7 sheats sheet 8.

ATTORNFVS P w s a z w m 5 2 r p A d e t n a t a P No. 623,769. T. C. DEXTER.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

(Application filed Dec. 28, 1898.) (No Model.) l7 SheetsSheet 9.

EN i lav WITNESSES:

ATTORN EYS Patented Apr. 25, I899. T. 6. DEXTER.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

(Applicahon m d Dec. as 1996.

I7 Sheets-Sheet II].

(No Model.)

WITNESSES:

Y M .QNIN .wnrm NN No. 623,769. Patehted Apr. 25, I899. T. c. DEXTER.

PAPEB..-FE'EDING- MACHINE.

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INVENTOR ATTORNEYS No. 623,769. Patented Apr. 25, I899. T. C. DEXTER.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE. (Apphcat on m an as 1899) (No Model.) [7 Sheets-Sheet l5.

ATTORNEYS No. 623,769. Patented Apr. 25, I899.

T. C. DEXTER.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

(Appl cat on filed Dec 28 1896) (No llodel.) I7 Sheets-Sheat l6.

WITNESSES:

Na. 623,769. Patented Apr. 25, I899.

T. c. DEXTER. Y

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

A um'zim filed Dec. 2s, 1896.) (No Model.) l7 Sheeta8heet l7.

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UNTTE STATES v PAPER FEEDlNG MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,769, dated April 25, 189 9.

Application filed December 28,1896. Eerial No. 617.263. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LTALBOT O. DEXTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pearl River, in the county of Rockland and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Feeding Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in paper-feeding machines of the buckling type, in'which the successive sheets of paper in an adj ustably-supported pile are buckled and separated from the pile and then fed off from thepile to a printing-press, paper folding or ruling machine, or other machine designed to operate upon the paper.

The object of my invention is to improve the structure and operation of the several essential parts of such mechanisms to render such machines more accurate in separating the sheets, more effective in guarding against the delivery of more than one sheet, and more completely automatic in operation, and to provide means for arresting the movements of the several devices in cases when the sheets are not properly separated or the machine is otherwiseimperfectly operating and would be liable to injure the mechanism or the sheets being handled.

To these ends my invention relates, first, to the improved buckling devices comprising an automatically-controlled spring-pressed holding-down finger engaging the corner of the pile of paper and an inwardly-reciprocating buckling-carriage carrying a looselyjournaled spring-pressed buckling-finger operated by suitable mechanism, which first releases the buckling-finger to the action of its spring to throw it down into engagement with the top sheet of the pile of paper and then engages the reciprocating carriage for moving the finger inwardly for buckling the sheet. The reciprocating carriage of the buckler is provided with a spring-pressed brake, which overcomes the initial tendency of the carriage to move at each change of direction, for the purpose of giving the buckling-finger time to move into contact or out of contact with the paper before the movement of the carriage.

My invention consists, secondly, in providing frictionblocks, which constantly rest upon the pile of paper and exert an effective frictional resistance upon the under sheet or sheets at their rear edge or edges, which may by chance bebuckled and started off from the pile together with the top sheet inorder that said under sheet or sheets will be held back while the top sheet is carried off by the feeding-off devices and drop-rollers. These friction-blocks assist greatly in separating the sheets when more than one sheet is started off, because in such cases the underlying sheet or sheets will almost invariably project slightly back of the upper sheet and allow said blocks to engage the rear edge or edges of said under sheet or sheets, and, although each of said underlying sheets may not project more than one-eighth of an inch, the friction between the under sheets andthefrictionblocks will be greater than the friction between the two smooth sheets of paper, and consequently the under sheets will be effectively held back while the upper sheet is fed off. I consider this device of great importanee.

My invention consists, thirdly, of automatically-operated holding shoes or blocks which are forcibly thrown down into engagement with the pile of paper directly in rear of the rear edge of the top sheet just as it is fed off to its most forward position by the main separators and is in position to be grasped by the drop-rollers for the purpose of further counteracting the tendency of the frictional engagement between the top sheet and the pile to carry forward more than one sheet. These holding-down blocks are so adjusted that they will just miss the rear edge of the top sheet and firmly engage the next underlying sheet and hold it back even though said underlying sheet has been advanced so far that the friction -between it and the top sheet would be sufficient to carry itforward into the bite of the drop-rollers. It often happens that the main separators at the delivery end of the machine will separate the top sheet from the underlying ones, but will advance the underlying ones so near to the drop-rollers that they are liable to be drawn forward. These holding-down blocks are important for preventing this.

My invention consists, fourthly, in an improved governing device for automatically regulating the height of the pile of paper. I

This governing device comprises, essentially, an intermittently operable driving shaft geared to the table-elevating screws and having a ratchet-wheel keyed to it which is operated by a pawl carried upon an intermittentlyoscillated rock arm or lever loosely journaled upon the driving-shaft, a hood or shield being also loosely journaled upon said shaft and constructed and arranged to project over a segment of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel for holding the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel while the pile of paper is at its proper height. The hood is connected through a suitable link with a vertically-sliding gagerod which is normally held in elevated position by means of a dog formed upon a bell crank lever pivoted to the machine-frameand carrying at its lower end a freely-jonrnaled roller which rests upon the top of the pile of paper. Said hood or shield is also connected through suitable links, crank-arms, and a rock-shaft with the pawl-carrying rock-arm in such a manner that the hood or shield will be oscillated over the teeth of the ratchetwheel, exposing some of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel to the action of the pawl and causing the gage-rod to move up and down in its bearings when the surface of the pile of paper has descended sufficiently below the normal plane to disengage the dog from said gage-rod. \Vhen the pile of paper is at its normal height, suitable springs hold the hood or shield in normal position to keep the oscillating pawl out of engagement with the ratchet-teeth, and during this normal position of the mechanism the continued regular oscillation of the pawl-carrying arm will not move the shield and connected gage-rod, because the engagement between the two parts of the mechanism is effected by means of a t'appet or collar on the operating-rod of the shield and a head attached to the oscillating pawl-carrying rock-arm, which slides upon said rod and only engages the tappet when the gage-rod has been allowed to fall below normal by the disengagement of the dog caused by the lowering of the pile of paper. My invention consists, fifthly, in the construction of the feeding-elf devices comprising,essentially, a reciprocatingcarriage, upon which are pivotally mounted a plurality of spring-pressed feed ing-off fingers, (one behind the other,) which are thrown into engagement with the surface of the top sheet of paper by the action of their springs and automatically elevated from the paper by means of a longitudinally-sliding rack-bar movably mounted upon the carriage and having a lower cam-face engaging vertically-sliding rods, which in turn engage the feeding-off fingers. \Vhen the rack-bar in the carriage is in normal position, the feeding-off fingers are in engagement with the surface of the top sheet of paper, but as soon as the forward edge of the sheet being fed off reaches proper registered position it actuates an electric contact device and an electric circuit is broken and a pawl or dog thereby released by an electro-- magnet to fall into engagement with the rackbar, causing said rack-bar to be held stationary while the reciprocating feeding-off carriage continues to move, resulting in the again made the dogs are drawn up out of engagement with the rack-bars, which are shifted to normal position to allow the feeding-off fingers to again operate. In addition to the automatic control of the rack-bars suitable stops are provided to engage the rack-bars at the forward and rear end of the movement of the feeding-off carriages to throw the rackbars back into normal position, the normal position being such that the feeding-elf fingers will be held out of engagement with the surface of the paper during the rearward stroke of the carriages.

My invention consists, sixthly, of the combination of a suitable sheet-retarding bed located at the delivery end of the machine, a frictional separatoroperating upon the sheets of paper over said bed to carry the top sheet over the bed and separate it from any chance underlying sheets, and an independent auxiliary feeding-oif instrument operating upon the pile of sheets at the rear of the separatorpad to feed off the top sheet from the pile onto the sheet-retarding bed before said sheet is engaged by the separating-pad. The feeding-off instrument and separating-pad operate upon the sheets alternately or successively, the feeding-off instrument first pushing the sheet forward to the bed and the separator-pad then engaging the sheet on the bed. It is not necessary that the feeding-off instrument shall disengage thesheet the moment the separatorpad comes into engagement with it, as their operations may slightly overlap or be partly coincident; but it is essential that they should be brought into play alternately or successively to produce the important result aimed at in this part of myinvention. I also prefer to employ suitable sheet-delivering mechanism to convey the successive advanced sheets from the sheet rctarding or separating beds of the machine to the printing-press, folder, or other machine.

Myinvention consists, seventhly, in the improved separating device located at the delivery end of the machine and operating, in conjunction with the independently-operated feeding-off devices, in accordance with the -fifth part of my present invention, to receive the sheet being fed off and separate therefrom any additional under sheet or sheets which may by chance have passed the bucklers and resistance-brakes, causing the upper sheet to be fed to the drop-rollers or other sheet delivery mechanism of the machine and holding back said under sheets. The separator comprises a paper-retarding bed disposed at the delivery end of the machine adapted to engage the top sheet and push' it forward over the bed while the underlying sheet or sheetsis or are detained by their frictional engagement with the'bed. Suitable sheet-delivering mechanism, such as the drop-rolls shown, engage the separated sheet, which is pushed forward over the retardingbed of the separator; and convey it from the machine. The operating mechanism of the reciprocating friction pad or block of the separator has a twofold function, as in the operating mechanism of the buckler, in that it first moves said friction-pad into or out of engagement with the surface of the paper and then by continued movement in the same direction causes the reciprocation of the carriage either forward or backward, an automatic spring-brake being provided to counteract the initial tendency of the carriage to move and give time for the supporting-block to move into or out of engagement with the paper before the reciprocation of thecarriage.

The invention consists, eighthly, in arranging the sets of feeding-off devices and separating devices. one behind-the otherin groups which are connected by a suitable structure to enable the ready adjustment of each group transversely of the machine to suit the requirements for operating upon the paper of different sizes. To accomplish this result, the track-bars upon which the feeding-off carriages and separator-carriages reciprocate are supported at their ends upon castings which slide upon the frame pieces, while the operating levers and links are supported from another casting connected with one of the aforesaid castings, and the cams for effecting the movements of .the operating-levers are keyed to a suitable sleeve having a sliding spline connection with the operatingshaft, which sleeve is formed with an annular groove in which engages a fin or flange projecting up from one of the castings. In this way all of the parts of each group of mechanisms are readily adjusted at one time by simply loosening one or more securingbolts in one of the main castings. In the machine illustrated in the drawings two sets or groups of such mechanisms are employed, one at each side of the machine, each set comprising a feeding-01f mechanism and a separating mechanism.

My invention consists, ninthly, in providing means for automatically arresting the operation of the machine in cases when the several mechanisms have for unseen reasons failed to properly separate the sheets and have fed forward a greater number of sheets than the separating devices can effectively manage. rangement is very important inthis class of machines; The separating devices can effectively separate from four to six sheets when they are passed forward to them but if a greater number of sheets are-fed forward there is not sufficient room upon the lower retarding-bed to effectively engage the forward edge of all of the sheets, and consequently two or more sheets will be engaged by the drop-rollers and conveyed to the folder or printing-machine, causing the destruction of such sheets and sometimes the injury of the machine. To obviate this difficulty, I have provided an automatic clutch device which disen gages the machine from the power-shaft and positively arrests its movement when an electric contact device is actuated by the It will be clear that such an ar-' thickness of more than the maximum number of sheets which the separator can properly take care of, said contact device closing a circuit which energizes an electromagnet, causing the operation of the operating-arm of the clutch-controller. A hand-lever is also provided, which engages the clutch-controller for throwing the machine out of operation by hand. To further insure the positive stepping of the machine under the action of the automatic clutch, I provide a rock-arm connected to said clutch-controlling mechanism and provided with a dog or lug which engages a similar dog or lug on one of the supporting rock-arms of the drop-rollers in order that said drop-rollers will be held out of operation the instant the machine is stopped, to thereby prevent any slight forward feed of the paper by their momentum.

My invention consists, lastly, in various combinations of the parts above referred to and in certain minor details of construction of the several parts of the machine, which, together with the features above pointed out, will first be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and afterward more particularly pointed out with respect to their patentable noveltyin the annexed claims.

In said drawings, Figure I is a plan view of the left-hand portion of my improvedfeeding-machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the right-hand portion of the same. Figs. 1 and 2 taken together represent a plan view of the whole machine. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of part of the rear right-hand corner of the machine. Fig. at is a front perspective view of the sheet-buckling mechanism and one of theair-blast devices. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view showing the friction-brake of, the buckling devices. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view showing the paperretarding brake and the holding-down shoes or blocks. Fig. 5 is a detail transverse sectional view showing the means for operating the holding-down shoes or blocks. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the governor mechan- 

